


old me

by poppyharris



Category: Stardew Valley
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Depression, F/M, Imaginary Friends, Poor Life Choices, poor little rich girl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23399851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppyharris/pseuds/poppyharris
Summary: shane gets drunk, sits by the lake and talks to a beer-fuelled hallucination of a pretty girl.then his hallucination shows up at the luau as the daughter of the governor.
Relationships: Shane (Stardew Valley)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	old me

misty stared down into the water at her own reflection, trying to control her breathing. she'd ran all the way from the train station, and only sat down when she heard the departing whistle. it was just so hard to get time to herself, without a small army surrounding her as she tried to familiarise herself with the valley. misty simply adored stardew valley, regularly stating to her father that it was simply the greatest place on earth.

her father never seemed to share the same fondness as she did, passing it off as a backwards little community that made terrible soup. he never bothered to visit the saloon, or the general store, despite misty's insistence that they sold lovely tasting food.

she sighed, unplaiting her hair as she watched herself in the reflection, allowing her feet to dangle, but not quite touch the water. she hated being so short. the villagers barely noticed her growing between luaus, with mayor lewis assuming that she was still a child. ugh. maybe the valley did have some downsides.

a crack sounded in the forest behind her, but misty didn't bother looking around. it couldn't be anyone working for her father, or they would've found her much sooner. the sound of slow walking approached, pausing slightly when they stepped onto the pier. "um, hello."

misty sighed a little, finally looking around. the scruffy man... shaun? simon? it was something beginning with s, she knew that at least. "hello there," she gave him a warm smile, before turning back around. the man didn't move for a moment, before slowly walking forward and sitting down next to her. he gave her a look out of the corner of his eye, before popping another beer. 

"i feel like i recognise you," he said, tilting his head at her, sipping on the beer that'd fizzed up. "are you one of the night market merchants?"

misty shook her head, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders. "i'm nobody," she stated, staring determinedly downwards again. she watched the man shrug, then look up and away. 

"well, it's nice to meet you, nobody. i'm shane." shane! that was his damn name! the man who couldn't keep his eyes off the punch and always put a hot pepper in the soup. 

misty giggled a little at his joke, shaking her head a little. "are you a father? because that was such a dad joke," she turned to smile at him, rolling her eyes playfully. shane let out a deep chuckle, before simply settling into a smile at misty. 

"i'm not, but if you're offering, i'll pick you up at eight," he gave her a lazy wink, before taking another sip from his can, his smile growing wider at her red flush. 

"i swear i'll push you in if you keep this up," misty continued to giggle, having to put her hand over her mouth to stop her from laughing too loudly. she was acutely aware of how close they were to a few houses, and a... tower? man, the valley was weird. 

a silence settled over the pair, not thick, or uncomfortable, but relaxing. the stillness of the valley was always something to treasure. even at night, you could still hear the farmer watering or cutting down trees, willy casting his line then cursing loudly when he caught nothing. a silent valley was a happy valley, as her father said. but that was more down to him being too lazy to care about stardew valley than anything else.

"will you be here tomorrow?" shane asked, not even sure if he'd remember her in the morning, but something told him she was special. 

"not tomorrow, but i'll be here for the luau, i promise," misty turned and gave him a smile, before looking down at her watch and gasping. "oh crumbs!" she yelled, scrambling up. "i'll see you soon, shane!" she called over her shoulder, breaking into a sprint away from the lake. she had three minutes to get to the station for the last train, and she could already feel a stitch forming.

back on the pier, shane was sat, mildly shellshocked, before he got up, and started walking back home.

* * *

"c'mon shane, it's starting!" marnie was banging on his bedroom door, shouting loudly to try and get through to his hungover brain. or so she thought.

"is something wrong, marn?" shane asked, from the front door, wearing a brand new joja mart jacket, and with newly washed hair. marnie wasn't entirely sure if the man standing in front of her was shane. 

"uh, no. jas is already down at the beach, i thought you were still asleep," marnie picked up her bag and the basket full of herbs the farmer had given her to prepare the base of the soup. shane shook his head, leaving the ranch, but holding the door open for her. "what's got you trying to look all nice?" shane shrugged, locking the door after marnie began the walk to the beach. 

he knew he was basically just dressing up for his imagination, but maybe the mysterious girl would comment on how good he looked. as shane walked, he listened to the buzz of the valley, smiling slightly as he entered the beach, the aroma from the soup already starting to waft around the open space.

and then he saw her.

her hair was a slivery silky colour that she'd clearly spent a lot of time on, the intricate braids and pins looking far too complicated to be casual. she had a white sundress on, the hem being far too short to be innocent. lewis was talking to her at the moment, meaning- 

great, his imaginary friend wasn't imaginary.

which meant he didn't have her all to himself.

looking around the beach, he saw the rest of the boys either staring at her, or in her general direction. sebastian had such a firm grip on his joja cola that little finger indents were beginning to form. fucks sake. shane really needed to lie off the beer, else he'd never work out which pretty girl was his imagination and who was real. 

"ah! shane, hello!" lewis waved the boy over, smiling widely. "you no doubt know lavrenti timashuk, the governor of stardew valley. and his daughter, misty timashuk."

misty. 

she smiled at shane, not widely, not coyly, not a smirk. but a real, full smile. misty pretended like she didn't know him, but when lewis turned away to speak to the governor, she gave him a quick wink, stuck her tongue out before mouthing "call me". 

**Author's Note:**

> song: old me - 5 seconds of summer


End file.
